Many agencies nowadays use blogger outreach as the main link building method. So, there are many pitches to be sent. The question that quickly emerges is what exactly editors want to see in a pitch that they get? We’ve contacted a few of them and asked them directly what they think the perfect guest blog pitch should look like.
Their ideas are in some ways different, but in some ways, they were extremely similar. This leads us to believe that there is a way of perfectly pitching every single one of your guest posts. However, you’ll need to do a little bit of research before every pitch. So, in this article, we’re going to quell some myths and give you basic guidelines on how to impress your favorite blog’s editor. Get published today.
Make things personal
The first myth that we need to bust right away is that there is one exact formula or template that will work every time. Unfortunately, that is not the case here. Simply because every blog has:
- different requirements and criteria,
- different audience,
- different editors that think different things are important.
And the last one probably is the most important among all of them. Don’t forget that you’re pitching this post to a human being. All these editors are people creating a relationship with them is as important as understanding the types of leads if you want to run a business. So, very.
So, make sure to do a little bit of research about them beforehand. Read their bio, visit their Twitter account, and reference something from there with your pitch. This way you’re connecting to a person right away as it’s clear you know who he or she is. If they care about you, they’re much more likely to read what you have to say. And that’s everything you need, right?
Prove that they need you
One thing that is important to know is that editors usually get hundreds of pitches every week. Realistically, they don’t need them all as no one publishes that much content. And, since it’s in the interest of all types of blogs to help their readers rather than writers, most of these posts don’t get published or even looked at.
What we want to say is that you shouldn’t come from the side where you’re looking for help and telling them how you can benefit from them publishing your article. They already know that. However, they also know that having guest bloggers gives them a fresh perspective. But you don’t tell them that either. Why would you point out something that they already know?
Tell them what value you can bring to their audience. Be sure to include this at the beginning of your pitch so they can’t miss it.
Do your research
We mentioned this so many times you may think you’re reading a guide for a private detective. And in a way, it is a similar thing. You need to do a little bit of investigation to be able to write the perfect guest blog pitch and post itself. And that should be obvious by now. You as a writer can benefit from this research. It’ll be easier to implement all the link building tactics later on.
The thing here is that you can’t really understand what readers of this blog are into if you don’t read it yourself. And this is true for every blog there is. So, read enough of the posts that are published and you won’t need any guidelines for that specific website. Don’t send out blind pitches.
Work on your subject lines
From our talks with editors, we’ve discovered that some of them open every pitch the get, and some don’t. So, the situation is as expected. However, one thing that is important for all of them is a subject line. Those who don’t open everything they get say that they usually choose emails they do open by it. What this means is that you need to offer something personal, compelling, or valuable in just a few words.
Avoid sounding generic in any way. The idea here is to be provocative and specific in getting to the point quickly. You need to stand out.
Be respectful to their time
This is another very important aspect of writing the perfect guest blog pitch that writers often overlook. Pretty much all bigger blogs have a 3-6 week editorial calendar in place. This means that they have work on their hands constantly. So, don’t expect your article to be read, reviewed, and decided if it will be published or not.
The general rule of thumb here is to give the editors at least a week of review time before following up. Also, because of the schedule that we already mentioned, don’t expect your article to be published for at least a month. If you experience a shorter wait, you’ve done an amazing job. Feel free to celebrate.
Check grammar and edit
Based on our research, more than half of the editors will delete the pitch right away if it includes spelling or grammar errors. It doesn’t matter even if the content is great. You need to pay as much attention to the quality of your pitch as for the quality of the content. That’s simply how things are.
Editors rarely want to deal with something simple like fixing your nofollow links is, let alone with things like grammar mistakes are. Send them a perfectly crafted virtual letter regarding the pitch, and follow up with content that they’ll only need to edit for formatting or style adjustments. That’s how you get noticed.
Creative options are a way to go
If while doing your research you realize that particular subject hasn’t been covered you may think it’s a done deal. However, with weeks of prepared material, there’s a solid chance that something similar is in the process of being published.
Spend some time thinking about the topics and try to come up with outside the box ideas. If you really want to knock them off, send them multiple article ideas in your perfect guest blog pitch. When you settle on the final topic, deliver a few options of it, and visuals. That’s how professionals deal with it, and that’s how you should do it.